Sleeved Amelie Sewalong - Part 2 - Assembling the Bodice

Alright, so yesterday we prepped our bodice and some other bits of our dress with interfacing and we sewed up all of our darts- yay! For today, we are going to focus on getting our bodice prepped and ready to add sleeves tomorrow!

Have you got your cup of coffee or tea? I've got some nice ginger & green tea next to me, plus a batch of brownies in the oven and am ready to dive in! So let's grab your instructions and turn to page 32 (I sound just like a school teacher, don't I?)

13) With right sides together, attach your front bodice to the back bodice at the shoulder seams; Repeat for lining.

13A) Press those seams open.

14) Place your bodice lining & main bodice right sides together. Sew together along the neck & back opening. This should be one long continuous stitch!

15) My favorite part is always when you clip your curves and corners- this will help ensure that everything lays flat when you turn your bodice right side out.

*Bonus Tip* I also like to grade my seams to reduce bulk on the outside of my garment, especially with something as delicate as an open back! Since we will be understitching in the next step, you will want to grade the lining fabric instead of your main fabric (as you would on a waistband). If you graded your main fabric, there would be very little to try and catch during the understitching phase!

16) Turn your bodice right side out. We are going to understitch along the back opening & neckline as far as possible- if you need help with this part, check out this quick tutorial on understitching I put together or follow along below!

Basically with understitching, our goal is to sew our seam allowance to our lining fabric realllyyyy close to the neckline edge without showing that same seam on our main fabric.

To do this, you will want to press your seam allowance towards your lining as far as you can possibly go. You won't be able to get into the tiny corner of the back bodice, but you can get pretty close!

My thumb is pointing to where I will be sewing!

Then you'll want to sew about 1/8" / 0.3 cm away from the actual seam that joins the facing to the bodice front. As you are stitching, you want to make sure that you are catching all of your seam allowance under the facing.

You'll turn your garment right side out so that the lining and main fabrics have the wrong sides touching. As you can see, I wasn't able to get all the way into the little point of my back bodice, but that is ok!

Give it a quick press to make sure your seams are nice and crisp and Voila! You have successfully understitched your bodice. High fives all around, and maybe a bite of brownie, too!

17) To wrap up the evening, let's end with a quick basting of your bodice to the bodice lining along the armhole openings.

Wonderful! We are nearly through with sewing our bodice! All we have left are the sleeves which can be a little tricky, but if you are patient with yourself, I know we can get through it in one piece!